In the decisive match of the group stage of the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the Ukrainian national football team faced the Netherlands. Unfortunately, the “blue and yellows” suffered a defeat, which resulted in their failure to advance to the tournament playoffs.

This tournament marked the fourth appearance of Ukraine’s U21 team in the Euro finals. The first match ended in a 2-3 loss to Denmark, but in the second round, the team secured an important 2-0 victory over Finland U21, giving hope for progression to the playoffs.

Before the match against the Netherlands, Ukraine was in second place in the group with three points, while the Netherlands had only one point and were in third place. To advance, Ukraine needed to avoid defeat, whereas the Netherlands required a win.

The first dangerous moment came as early as the second minute, when Nazar Voloshyn received a pass and shot from outside the penalty area, but Dutch goalkeeper Robin Ruijs confidently saved the ball.

The Netherlands opened the scoring in the 34th minute. After a mistake by Arseniy Batagov in the penalty area, Ruben van Bommel intercepted the ball and passed it to Luciano Valente, who accurately shot into the center of the goal.

The Netherlands doubled their lead in the 57th minute: Kenneth Taylor passed to Tom van Bergen, who broke into the penalty area and chipped over Ukrainian goalkeeper Ruslan Neshcheret.

From the 81st minute, Ukraine played with a numerical advantage as Dutch midfielder Yuri Regeer received a straight red card for a rough foul on Oleksandr Yatsyk. However, despite the extra player, the “blue and yellows” were unable to score, finishing the match 0-2.

Results of the 2025 U21 Euro match, Round 3:
Netherlands U21 – Ukraine U21 2:0
Goals: Valente, 34; Van Bergen, 57

Following this defeat, Ukraine’s U21 team finished third in their group and failed to qualify for the Euro 2025 playoffs. Denmark and the Netherlands secured places in the next stage.

Group D Standings at the 2025 U21 Euro

Denmark – 7 points (3 matches), goal difference 7:5
Netherlands – 4 points (3), 5:4
Ukraine – 3 points (3), 4:5
Finland – 2 points (3), 4:6